Chapter 120.1

Chapter 120.1

The resort entrance, the nameplate on the main building, and the sign they had just passed. It was too strange to be a coincidence.

“…I keep seeing my name.”

André let out a small laugh instead of answering.

“You really didn’t see it? The sign back there and the one we just passed both had my name on them. I’m serious.”

“I know.”

He answered with an easy shrug.

Miran stared at his profile, her mouth opening and closing before she clamped it shut. Whatever was happening was on a scale she couldn’t even begin to process, and her heart thudded so hard it made her dizzy. She decided it was safer to pretend she hadn’t seen anything.

But André didn’t let her. The man who never gave explanations suddenly spoke in a casual, almost indifferent tone, as if he were talking about someone else’s business.

“This used to be the Lafayette family’s winter villa. In the sixties, my father gave the property to my mother as a wedding present and turned it into a resort. Back then it was called ‘L’Étoile Sur La Mer,’ which means ‘Star on the Sea.’ They just finished renovating it, so the name was changed. The official opening is tomorrow, which makes us the first guests. And… you saw right. The resort’s new name is ‘Miran.’ It’s my gift to you.”

Miran, who had been hanging onto the support rail in the back seat of the golf cart, lost all strength in her arms. Her voice came out blank.

“…You’re insane.”

“I know.”

André laughed, amused.

The sign where Sammy dropped them off also read “Villa Miran.” Her ears burned bright red, and she couldn’t lift her head.

To name a resort after her. Was this all because she complained once about him not taking her out on proper dates? And how did someone even give a resort as a gift?

It was the kind of scale normal people couldn’t imagine even in a lifetime.

The sheer, unreserved weight of André de Lafayette’s love made her eyes sting, overwhelmed and grateful and embarrassed all at once, as if she were standing there completely exposed.

This was the moment she truly understood what it meant to be loved by a man like André de Lafayette.

Miran looked around helplessly before finally hiding her face against André’s chest. His large hand wrapped around her head. His shoulder shook with a soundless laugh.

The resort “Miran” sat on five hundred acres curving along a crescent-shaped cape, made up entirely of villas and suites designed to blend elegantly with the natural landscape.

She was admiring the luxurious interior of the villa when Sammy guided her toward the wide terrace. It was the place prepared for dinner.

The ivory-white sand that shimmered softly and the clear sea tinted with pale sky blue felt close enough to touch. Leaning against the railing, Miran let out a gasp.

“I’ve never seen anything like this in my life. It’s so, so… beautiful. I don’t even know how else to describe it.”

She leaned her upper body over the railing, mesmerized by the intense red light burning through the sky before sinking slowly into the blue sea.

“You’re beautiful too.”

He had said the same thing back when she stood watching the sunset pressed against the mountainside above the valley.

When she turned to him with a smile, André took a small box from his pocket. Then he went down on one knee in front of her.

He opened the old box with slightly creaking hinges and lifted out a ring. A large oval diamond sat at the center, flanked on each side by pear-shaped diamonds like delicate wings. It was a classic design.

“Marry me.”

Even with her hand over her mouth, a small sob slipped out between her fingers. She forced her voice out with effort.

“Um… do we have to sign some kind of contract? Like… when we’re supposed to divorce or anything like that?”

André shut his eyes tight and let out a sigh.

“There’s nothing like that. It’s a normal marriage. But you should know I’m not planning to let you go. Not even when I die.”

“What kind of proposal is that, sounding like a threat…”

Miran’s nose turned red as she pouted.

“I love you, Miran. I’m desperate because of you. You know I can barely breathe without you. Let’s get married.”

“…”

As if he thought she might refuse, desperation crept into André’s eyes.

“Please.”

“…”

“Answer me.”

Only then did Miran sniff and nod.

“I will. I’m… not letting go of this marriage. Ever.”

André pressed his forehead to the back of her hand and let out a breath of relief.

“Exactly what I was hoping for.”

He slipped the ring onto her ring finger and murmured as he kissed it.

“Tibi aeternam amorem voveo.”

“What does that mean?”

“It’s Latin. It means, ‘I vow eternal love to you.’ It’s the inscription General Lafayette gave his wife when he went off to war. Inside this ring is a Posy Ring that’s been passed down through the Lafayette family.”

Miran gently removed the ring and examined the inside. Just as he said, an old gold band had been set into the interior. Tiny letters were engraved along the inner surface. André slid the ring back onto her finger.

“They were a political marriage, but they loved only each other until death. That’s why proposing with this ring is a tradition in the Lafayette family. Now it’s yours. Until my son finds the person he’ll marry.”

My son.

André and my son.

A figure so distant she could barely imagine it, even in her thoughts.